Humming in the rain!

If you’ve heard certain melodious sounds cut through the cacophony of the city, they’re the special birds that have rung in the cool weather, showers and silver grey skies. They’re the monsoon birds — harbingers of the wet season — that have been recently spotted in and around Mumbai.

“The rains inspire not just the poet and the writer amongst us but also a lot of life forms,” smiles naturalist-photographer-writer, Sunjoy Monga. “There is considerable featherfolk activity. For one, you may have seen the Pied Cuckoo, a celebrated monsoon harbinger of the region. We saw one recently at Aarey,” he says.

This black and white, long-tailed character is known to arrive from Africa, crossing the Arabian Sea.

The other is the Black-Backed Dwarf Kingfisher. “This is one of the monsoon breeding visitors, a real gem of a bird. It has a mix of resplendent colours and it is not very easy to sight as it darts.”

Where can one spot it? “The bird can be seen in forests such as Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Karnala bird sanctuary,
Tungareshwar wildlife sanctuary,” he reveals.

The Baya Weaver is strikingly coloured. “Sadly, it has suffered
immensely in the region as a lot of open, palmyra-dotted countryside has almost disappeared,” he says.

Atul Sathe, of the Bombay Natural History Society says it’s the Indian Pitta that is a very accurate weather announcer. “It’s called navrang in Hindi and Marathi and is a beautiful bird with a melodious, chirping voice,” he adds.